REPORTS TO THE BOARD

Woodland Middle School Report

To: Michael Green
From: Jake Hall
CC: School Board members
Date: 10.06.15
Re: WMS October 2015 Board Report

The start of 2015-16 at the new Woodland Middle School is full of adventure! Everything is “NEW”! New Students, new Families, new Teachers, new Office and Administration, new Instructional Materials, new grade levels, new construction/carpet/paint/renovation/fences, new classrooms, new schedule, new programs… new, new, new! I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this great new school, to “build this plane as we fly it” and to work to make WMS the strong core of Woodland Public Schools!

For this report I would like to focus on just one of the many new aspects at WMS, the Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) program. Woodland Middle School is continuing to support the social and emotional needs of students through the Fresh Start program that has been serving students at WIS since the 2011-2012 school year. We have an encouraging crew who are welcoming and supportive of students and their trajectories towards success. Certificated and classified staff work collaboratively to deliver the supports and make the student connections in a timely fashion. Adjusting this service delivery model to the middle school model has required some creative thinking and added responsibility for students and staff. While some will have supports adjusted to meet their specific needs, most fresh start Students check in with staff each morning and check out each afternoon. Most students will have a goal that they work on daily, track their progress, and move on to work on to other goals, or move towards a lower level of support. With those students for him this support is a good fit, we have found that Fresh Start:

•  Improves student accountability
•  Increases structure
•  Improves student behavior and academics when other interventions have failed
•  Provides feedback and adult support on a daily basis
•  Improves and establishes daily home/school communication and collaboration
•  Improves student organization, motivation, incentive, and reward
•  Helps students to self-monitor and correct · Internalizes success and accomplishment of goals
•  Students get involved and excited about the program structure, support, and incentives
•  Leads to maintenance free responsible behaviors, habits, and effort

We are also fortunate to have the continued resource of the Think Tank for students to have an opportunity for learning and planning for positive solutions for low level discipline problems, following an infraction. Both of these systematic efforts are part of our school-wide and K-8 efforts to ensure an optimal learning environment through positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS).